A member of An Garda Síochána escaped injury after his vehicle burst into flames on a motorway in Co Clare in the early hours of this morning.
The Garda Roads Policing Unit member was on routine patrol on the M18 at around 12.30am and was travelling northbound between junctions 10 and 11 when the incident happened.
It’s understood the Garda heard a bang which was followed by a burst of flames however he managed to bring his vehicle to a safe stop in the hard shoulder near Dromoland before exiting the car.
The Garda raised the alarm and managed to retrieve some important equipment from the rear of the vehicle before it was completely engulfed in flames
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Shannon and Ennis stations were mobilised to the incident along with a number of other Garda patrols.
It’s understood that a number of passing motorists stopped to check that the Garda was not injured. The member was the only person in the car at the time and was carrying a routine traffic patrol on the motorway at the time.
Gardaí closed the M18 northbound from junction 10 at Carrigoran so fire crews could deal with the blaze.
Traffic was diverted away from the scene for the duration while vehicles caught up behind the incident were allowed continue their journeys once the fire had been extinguished and the scene was declared safe.
The motorway was safely reopened again at around 5.00am once the car had been removed from the scene and the road surface was checked for damage by motorway maintenance crews.
Incident closed: Vehicle on Fire on M18/N18 J11 – DROMOLAND (north) https://t.co/kt5EM5opsR
— TII Traffic (@TIITraffic) December 21, 2019